Parinibbana - a question.

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srivijaya
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Parinibbana - a question.

Post by srivijaya »

I have a question regarding Parinibbana.

Is it said to be cognizant or incognizant?

Namaste
Kenshou
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Re: Parinibbana - a question.

Post by Kenshou »

Non-cognizant, I believe. Consciousness is a phenomena dependent upon conditions which at the point of exit from samsara, cease entirely.

Related: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dham ... bbana.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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tiltbillings
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Re: Parinibbana - a question.

Post by tiltbillings »

Kenshou wrote:Non-cognizant, I believe. Consciousness is a phenomena dependent upon conditions which at the point of exit from samsara, cease entirely.

Related: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dham ... bbana.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I would wonder if either choice is appropriate.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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tiltbillings
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Re: Parinibbana - a question.

Post by tiltbillings »

Since a tathagata, even when actually present, is incomprehensible, it is inept to say of him – of the Uttermost Person, the Supernal Person, the Attainer of the Supernal – that after death the tathagata is, or is not, or both is and is not, or neither is nor is not SN III 118, which seems to suggest that the question cognizant or incognizant does not fit, given that seems to imply some sort of being.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
Kenshou
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Re: Parinibbana - a question.

Post by Kenshou »

I suppose both knowing and non-knowing etc. are attributes which require a reference point, which nibbana cannot be said to have.

It's kind of a dance at the edge of the capabilities of language, trying to describe such a thing. But I haven't been there, so I'll leave it at that.
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tiltbillings
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Re: Parinibbana - a question.

Post by tiltbillings »

srivijaya wrote:I have a question regarding Parinibbana.

Is it said to be cognizant or incognizant?

Namaste
Why do you ask, if I may ask?
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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srivijaya
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Re: Parinibbana - a question.

Post by srivijaya »

Kenshou wrote:Non-cognizant, I believe.
Many thanks for the reply and the link Kenshou.

From the link:
"There is, monks, an unborn — unbecome — unmade — unfabricated. If there were not that unborn — unbecome — unmade — unfabricated, there would not be the case that emancipation from the born — become — made — fabricated would be discerned. But precisely because there is an unborn — unbecome — unmade — unfabricated, emancipation from the born — become — made — fabricated is discerned." Ud 8.3
A non-cognizant is, by definition, unable to "discern" wouldn't you say?

Tilt, I ask, as I consider it important.

Namaste
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Alex123
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Re: Parinibbana - a question.

Post by Alex123 »

srivijaya wrote:I have a question regarding Parinibbana.

Is it said to be cognizant or incognizant?

Namaste

If you mean when the Arahant dies, then this is what happens:

""Then, friend Yamaka, how would you answer if you are thus asked: A monk, a worthy one, with no more mental effluents: what is he on the break-up of the body, after death?"

"Thus asked, I would answer, 'Form is inconstant... Feeling... Perception...Fabrications... Consciousness is inconstant. That which is inconstant is stressful. That which is stressful has ceased and gone to its end."" - SN22.85
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"With the breakup of the body, following the exhaustion of life, all that is felt, not being delighted in, will become cool right here; mere bodily remains will be left" - SN 12.51(1) Thorough investigation

The body disintegrated, perception ceased, pain & rapture were entirely consumed, fabrications were stilled: consciousness has come to its end.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

With metta,


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vinasp
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Re: Parinibbana - a question.

Post by vinasp »

Hi srivijaya,

A complex and difficult question. First, the term 'parinibbana', the Buddhist Dictionary by Nyanatiloka says:

"Parinibbana : 'full nibbana', is a synonym for nibbana; this term, therefore, does not refer exclusively to the extinction of the 5 groups of existence at the death of the Holy One, though often applied to it. Cf. nibbana."

I agree that 'parinibbana' seems to be used sometimes to refer to enlightenment attained in this life. I disagree with the rest of the definition.

If you are asking what happens after the literal death of a tathagata or arahant, the teachings do not say anything (except that 'he' is not reborn?).

The passage that you quote from Ud 8.3 may be describing a stage of enlightenment which is attained in this life. If so, then one would still be conscious.

The problem is made more complicated by the difficulty of defining what, exactly, is meant by the 'five aggregates' ( I believe that they can cease before death).

It is even possible that many passages which appear to be describing someones death are in fact describing a higher stage of enlightenment. Idiomatic expressions are frequently used - 'he makes an end', or 'he uses the knife' (a symbol of wisdom).
Even the word 'death' does not have to be taken only in a literal sense.

It is doubtful whether 'vinnana' really means consciousness - perhaps it means a certain kind of knowing. A knowing in terms of self?

My ideas are controversial and outside mainstream thinking, I would not wish to mislead beginners, you must start with the commonly accepted view.

Best wishes, Vincent.
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srivijaya
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Re: Parinibbana - a question.

Post by srivijaya »

Alex123 wrote:If you mean when the Arahant dies
Hi Alex,
Thanks for the reply. I didn't quite mean that, as I feel that the question is wonderfully addressed by Sariputta in the Yamaka Sutta you linked.
Now, at that time this evil supposition had arisen to Ven. Yamaka: "As I understand the Teaching explained by the Blessed One, a monk with no more (mental) effluents, on the break-up of the body, is annihilated, perishes, & does not exist after death."
"And so, my friend Yamaka — when you can't pin down the Tathagata as a truth or reality even in the present life — is it proper for you to declare, 'As I understand the Teaching explained by the Blessed One, a monk with no more effluents, on the break-up of the body, is annihilated, perishes, & does not exist after death'?"
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The question was rather a difficult one (I admit).

Vincent, I was intrigued by this:
It is doubtful whether 'vinnana' really means consciousness - perhaps it means a certain kind of knowing. A knowing in terms of self?
Very plausible explanation.

At the end of the Kevatta Sutta we have the following:
Consciousness without feature,
without end,
luminous all around:

Here water, earth, fire, & wind
have no footing.
Here long & short
coarse & fine
fair & foul
name & form
are all brought to an end.
With the cessation of [the activity of] consciousness
each is here brought to an end.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... n.html#t-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Could the cessation of the activity of consciousness simply mean the cessation of the fabricated self and of suffering? In the footnotes we find:
Viññanam anidassanam. This term is nowhere explained in the Canon, although MN 49 mentions that it "does not partake in the allness of the All" — the "All" meaning the six internal and six external sense media (see SN 35.23). In this it differs from the consciousness factor in dependent co-arising, which is defined in terms of the six sense media. Lying outside of time and space, it would also not come under the consciousness-aggregate, which covers all consciousness near and far; past, present, and future.
Many thanks for the replies.
Namaste
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